


Feels Like This

by riceccakes



Series: Song Based [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Korrasami is Canon, Love, No Bending, Slow Burn, asami thinks she had a dream, inspired by a song, korra shows off her basketball skills, slow burn?, this was an unexpected addition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26506807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riceccakes/pseuds/riceccakes
Summary: Asami thinks she had a dream of kissing Korra and comes to a big conclusion. (Chapter 1)Korra has a basketball game. Everything is about to change (Chapter 2)
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Series: Song Based [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918945
Comments: 14
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone !! i'd only planned on this Song Based series to have two one shots, Same Boat and Means Something, but after receiving such wonderful comments and general love for the one shots, i decided to finish the story.  
> i've split the final installment into two parts. both are based on Sean Angus Watson's song "Feels Like This" Watson is a guitarist so this song is completely instrumental. it's absolutely gorgeous, i recommended you listen to the song either before or while you read this. i'll admit, the first time i ever heard this song, i cried, it carries so much emotion, and i hope i was able to display the emotions here in this story.  
> thank you for reading and i hope you enjoy :) x

It was the sweetest of dreams: sitting up against the wall, feeling Korra’s cheek in her hand, placing her lips on the girl’s, kissing her slowly, feeling Korra kiss back, gently pulling away and hearing the faint sound of music from beyond the closed door. Cinnamon and vanilla filled the air and when she took a deep breath, she felt content. She didn’t need to be anywhere else, just against that wall, leaning her head on Korra’s shoulder.

It was the sweetest dream. Asami could’ve thought it was real.

She didn’t remember much from that night of the party. She knew she downed drink after drink to numb the feeling of watching Bolin hit it off with Opal. She was happy for her friend, no doubt about it, but she felt the pit of her stomach drop every time the two huddled up close, every time they held hands, every time Bolin sat on the couch and Opal opted for his lap. She wanted that and she wanted it with Korra.

She remembered finding Korra down a hallway, she was talking to one of her teammates. They met up and found a room no one else was in. They were both admittedly drunk so they found solace on the floor. Asami remembered how they used each other for support, how Korra had moved so her head could rest on hers. Then, she woke up the next morning in her bedroom. Korra was asleep on the bay window, her mouth slightly open and her hair a mess. 

It surely was a dream, kissing Korra. She must’ve fallen asleep at the party because she knew she would never have the guts to kiss Korra in real life.

Asami spent the following weeks thinking of that dream, how her lips would still tingle, as if Korra were right there and they were still in that room. Every time she was around Korra and smelled the cinnamon and vanilla, her mind would play the kiss over, and when she would take a deep breath, her eyes would close and she would feel content again. She ached to be that kind of close to Korra, to be able to place her hand on the girl’s cheek, to look into the blue eyes for just a moment before leaning in and showing her how in love with her she was.

Sometimes she felt like she was living a lie. Nowhere, written on any stone, did it say Asami had to tell Korra of her feelings. She could very well keep them to herself for her entire lifetime and nothing in the universe would say that would be a bad thing. But, what was worse: never telling Korra or never knowing what Korra would say? She felt like she was cheating, against what, against who, she could never say, but it was like she was stealing moments with Korra that didn’t belong to her. 

Sitting on the bay window together, Korra’s head would lay on Asami’s lap. The two would be doing work; Asami would have a book in hand while Korra typed away on her laptop. They would sit in a silence so comfortable, their breathing would fall in line and if Asami tried hard enough, she could hear their hearts beating in sync. Asami could predict when Korra would become too fed up with her assignment. Her breathing would grow heavier and she would feel the slightest shift on her lap. Korra’s back muscles would grow tense and at any second, Korra would let out an aggravated sigh and slam her laptop shut.

The moment Korra’s breathing would become heavy, Asami would lay her book down and begin to run her fingers through Korra’s hair. It was recently cut, to just about her chin. She let her fingers slide down her scalp and then follow through until her finger touched the girl’s shoulder. She repeated this until Korra’s breathing returned to normal. Korra would still close her laptop, but instead carefully, and she’d close her eyes as Asami continued her actions. A few seconds would pass and Korra would open her eyes and find Asami, the ocean blues were peaceful once again. They would grin at each other, usually letting out some small giggles, before Korra opened her laptop again and continued working.

In the boys apartment, the crew would be watching a movie, Opal began coming around more often. She and Bolin would be cuddled up together on the couch, Mako sat on the floor, intently watching. Asami and Korra would be on the other side, Asami would bring her knees up to her chin and Korra’s arm would be laid on top of the back edge of the couch. Somehow, through the movie, the two girls would inch closer together, until Asami’s head rested on Korra’s collarbone and the girl’s arm would be loosely on Asami. The other three would be too busy to notice, Opal and Bolin were caught up in themselves while Mako got lost in the action-comedy-thriller playing. 

Korra’s fingers would be running up and down Asami’s arm lightly, she could feel Korra’s eyes following what her fingers were doing rather than the characters on the television. With her head on her collarbone, Asami could feel when Korra would smile, how her jaw would tense up a bit and then relax as her nose exhaled. Asami would try to give the girl some room but as the movie would go on, she found herself relaxing into Korra, from the feeling of fingers dancing on her arm, from the sweet cinnamon and vanilla making her head spin, from the unseen smile felt on the top of her head, she was never sure. Only sure that her body fit like a puzzle piece with Korra’s, that when she finally let her body deflate, she molded near perfectly with Korra. 

They formed their own way of texting. After doing it so much, the girls had little codes to make typing easier, they used parentheses to differentiate between conversations, so they could talk about more than one thing at time without confusion. Sometimes, on a certain day, their text language would only be pictures: when Korra would send a picture of a dog on the street, Asami would send the Doge meme, which Korra would respond with Grumpy Cat, and for hours, their conversations would be just that. And at night, if the girls texted long enough to get there, they’d quickly recount their days to each other and give it a rating out of ten. After hearing about each other, they would do everything in their power to help get the score to a ten. 

If Asami’s day only had a 7.5 rating, Korra would send a video of her doing push ups, starting with two arms, then one, then clapping in between them, Asami couldn’t deny she always brightened up after watching her. If Korra’s day only had a 6 rating, Asami would send a voice recording of her singing a song of Korra’s choosing. She wasn’t the best singer, but after one night at a karaoke bar, Korra begged Asami to sing for her. She’d only do it sometimes, and she made the girl swear to never share it with anyone else. If both girls had a great day, an 8.5 or a 9, they would send each other funny faces until they felt satisfied enough for a 10. And when either of them had a bad day, whether it be too stressful from school or from basketball or from the company, they would FaceTime, just so they could see each other in real time. A few words would be said, but mostly the girls would lay together, trying to close the distance as much as they could.

None of these moments should’ve been Asami’s, at least she believed so. There was a line between friendship and relationship, between platonic and romantic, and she could no longer see where that line was. Was it her fault she wanted more of those moments: to run her fingers through Korra’s hair, to feel Korra’s fingers move on her arm, to be the last thing Korra would think of at night; was she being selfish? She was taking the moments but never giving in to conversation, the much needed conversation that could lead to the permanence of all the actions.

Or lead to the end of them.

Sometimes she would hate herself, for never taking the chance, for pushing it aside, yet always trying to find those moments where time stood still. It wasn’t fair, to Korra, to herself. She was capturing butterflies in jars to take home when she should’ve been moving into the garden where she got them. Yet, for whatever reason, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

The memory of her dream, of kissing Korra, it didn’t help the situation. Asami tried so hard to find the courage to tell the girl, to find a way to show her, because Asami knew the words could never form. She could build cars, design skyscrapers, lead Future Industries meetings, but she couldn’t admit her feelings for her best friend. Sometimes she hated herself just for that.

She often wondered how the future would go, when Korra would find a girlfriend or a boyfriend. It was bound to happen, Korra was irresistible, and the only reason she didn’t have a significant other was to focus on her sports career. Asami wondered what would happen to her when the couple would become serious, when they would get married. If there was anything Asami knew for sure was that she wanted Korra in her life until the very end. She never knew how she survived so long without her and any lifestyle without her now would be impossible.

But, how would Asami cope with seeing Korra with someone else? She’d be happy for Korra, no questions asked, but how would her heart take it? How would her soul take it? How would she handle knowing someone else got to come home to Korra, got to sleep beside her, got to hold her through every up and every down. 

Asami hated it, she hated all of it, herself, the situation, her inexplicable inability to tell Korra and she knew she had to stop. She needed to take the step, she needed to find out, she needed to tell Korra that she was her future.

She feared the opportunity would never present itself, she feared she would never find a window to know if she and Korra were in the same boat. She prayed to Raava to have the ability handed right to her, to have the Spirits show her the way. And maybe they did, she just didn’t realize it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra has a basketball game. Everything is about to change.

Korra rubbed her eyes, trying to make sure her mind wasn’t deceiving her. When the girl didn’t disappear, Korra truly couldn’t believe it. In the stands of Omashu University, Asami sat in one of the chairs, wearing her number six Fire Ferrets jersey, cheering for Korra. 

She was tired, it was halfway through the third quarter and Korra had been, as usual, on fire. She’d already scored 20 points, completed 3 assists, and stole the ball twice. This was even before she saw Asami. Now after seeing her and watching the girl cheer for her, she had to show off, she had to impress her. She sat out the first few minutes of the quarter and walked over to her coach.

“Come on, Soh! Box her out! Take that rebound! Show her who’s boss!”

“Uh, hey, Coach?”

Coach Bumi turned and smiled. He slapped a hand on Korra’s shoulder and cheered, “Korra! What brings you over here? Yes, Soh! Now, pass that ball!”

Korra grinned. Bumi held his clipboard so tight, his hand started to turn white while the other was in an upturned fist. The whistle around his neck waved furiously as Bumi moved sporadically, as to keep up with where the ball was. He may have been a crazy coach, but he was a good one at that.

“Think you can put me back in? I’m feeling ready.”

Bumi turned to her, looking her up and down quickly before nodding. He called a timeout and took Leng out for Korra. She was getting placed back in as shooting guard, and while she preferred point guard, she knew she could still exhibit her abilities for Asami. Tasoka dribbled down court, analyzing the placement of teammates in front of her. Korra held up two fingers quickly before presenting an open palm. Tasoka nodded and passed the ball. Korra dribbled close to the floor, staying low. Kuvira was in position, Ranran opened up the center key. Korra bursted, weaving around the defender in front of her. She bounce-passed the ball to Kuvira, who was quickly met with Omashu’s defense, leaving a perfect hole for Korra. Kuvira faked a shot then passed it to Ranran, who set up an alley oop for Korra. The arena erupted in cheers as Korra landed on her feet after the dunk. She quickly found Asami again, who had cupped her hands around her mouth and was screaming.

Korra continued to display her skills, though didn’t hog the ball. She helped complete plays, keeping the ball moving around the court, but found the pockets of opportunity to shine. The game ended: Omashu 70, RCU 82. The stands began to empty out, the team stayed on the court to help clean and Kuvira found Korra. She looked at her with an all knowing grin and Korra slapped her shoulder. Korra had a smile on her face she couldn’t get rid of and now with the game over, she tried her hardest to understand how Asami could’ve come to the game.

Asami had even explicitly told Korra she wouldn’t be able to go, but she knew those emerald eyes anywhere. The team collected all their gear and walked out to the locker room. Bumi gave them a congratulatory speech and commended them on a job well done at both games. They earned the rest of their weekend and Monday practice off. The team exited and began to head towards the buses. Korra stood by the tall glass doors of Omashu’s arena and looked around for Asami. As a large crowd of Omashu fans dissipated, Korra spotted her girl doing the same as she was. She quickly ran over to her and dropped her duffle bag on the ground before scooping Asami up and swinging her around.

They laughed as Korra set her back down. Asami had even put on a little face paint of the school’s color under her eyes.

“Asami, I,” she began. Asami’s smile made Korra forget her train of thought and she shook her head, trying to regain her composure. “Asami, what are you doing here? Not that I’m not thrilled to see you, I just can’t believe you’re here!”

Asami shrugged, “I managed to finish my work earlier than expected. I took the Future Industries jet out to Ba Sing Se yesterday--”

“Ba Sing Se?” Korra spurted, shaking her head again. “You watched the BSS game too?”

She nodded, “I couldn’t get better tickets on such short notice so I was kind of far back--”

“You came all this way to watch me play?”

Asami softened. Korra watched her eyes, the emerald green was still vibrant against the night. She could see them twinkle, she could see the love in her eyes.

“Well, I most certainly had to try,” Asami whispered. She sighed, “I felt bad for keeping it a secret but the look on your face when you were sitting on the bench was priceless!”

Korra looked up at the girl, dumbfounded. She couldn’t believe that Asami came, not only to Omashu, but to Ba Sing Se as well. She couldn’t believe Asami took the time out of her weekend to travel and watch two basketball games. No one else in Korra’s life was like that. She could count on her friends, on Mako and Bolin, no doubt, on Kuvira and recently Opal. She knew they had her back but none of them had ever been as selfless as Asami. The boys had viable reasons not to come, Bolin was meeting Opal’s parents and Mako had work orientation at his new job, but this wasn’t the first time Asami had come through like this.

Korra had been sick one summer, and it of course had to happen while Tenzin and his family had left for a mini vacation. She was staying at the boy’s apartment but they kept their distance, wanting to keep Korra’s ill germs away from them. Mako let her take his room while he slept on the couch, at least so guests could still sit there. Asami visited every day and did her best to take care of Korra. The girl explained what the best remedy was for her sickness, how her mother always made a pot of steaming hot stewed sea prunes and served it with a side of homemade blubbered seal jerky. It was more so a comfort than a cure but Korra so desperately wanted the items.

The next day, Asami came in with containers of stewed sea prunes and a package of seal jerky. She explained how she tried to stop at Narook’s to see if stewed sea prunes were on the menu but the restaurant was closed for reconstruction. She found a corner store in the Little Water Tribe neighborhood and asked the merchants how to make the dish. She gathered the ingredients and wrote down the steps, she found a decent package of seal jerky at a pop-up kiosk, and returned to the Sato mansion to make the stew. Apparently, she had to return to the corner store once more, because she over boiled the sea prunes and they turned into an undesirable mush. The second attempt was much better and Asami had to buy another package of seal jerky because she ate the other one while cooking. 

Korra tasted the stew; it wasn’t her mother’s, but the fact that Asami made time to go to the Little Water Tribe neighborhood, buy items at the store, cook, go _back_ to the store, _and_ cook again, that stew was near perfect. Asami spent the rest of that day with Korra, stealing pieces of seal jerky and playing Mako’s video games. She wasn’t afraid of her germs, happily laying down next to her on the fresh set of sheets Mako put down for her.

Korra looked at Asami standing in front of her: the girl in her homemade jersey, the girl who traveled so far to see her play, the girl who Korra suddenly realized she was in love with; wholly and utterly, completely in love with. She knew right then the world hadn’t been playing a tiring game with her, rather setting her up for a perfect slam dunk.

The two had locked eyes and Korra hated the distance between them. It was much too far, only inches, but too many for her taste. Her heart was ready for takeoff; this was better than any college basketball victory, better than a crazy college rave, this was her future. There was no one else Korra wanted in her corner, no one else to travel hundreds of miles to watch her play, no one else to be the person she came home to. It may have been too early to be thinking about it, but Korra knew, she knew now, there was no denying anything, no need to question. She couldn’t take it any longer and grabbed Asami’s collar to pull her down and pressed their lips together. 

Just like the party, her lips were sweet like cherries and Korra felt like she was flying. Asami began to deepen the kiss and Korra wrapped her arms around the girl’s waist to pull her closer. Korra could hear Kuvira cheering in the background but let it go, she’d deal with her teammate later. All Korra could think about was Asami, about the girl who stole her heart and she didn’t even know she had. 

They pulled away and Asami began to stutter, “What, I--, Korra, _what?_ ”

Korra laughed, falling into Asami’s hands on her cheeks, “I had to, Asami, you,” she gulped, “you came all the way to Ba Sing Se _and_ Omashu to watch me play, how could I not?”

Korra saw a tear fall from Asami’s eyes. Suddenly the girl was crying and she wrapped her arms around Korra’s neck and buried her face. Korra wasn’t sure what was happening, had it been the wrong move to kiss her? After Wing and Wei’s party, she’d thought for sure that Asami had liked her, or at least it was on her mind, but perhaps she misunderstood and Asami really was just too drunk to realize what she’d been doing.

Asami picked her head up slightly and whispered, “Korra, I’ve wanted you for so long, I never thought this would happen. I--”

“Wait, so these are happy tears?” Korra interrupted, shouting at the world who was teetering back and forth.

Korra backed up to look at Asami’s eyes, but as soon as she took a step, Asami closed the space once more and wrapped her arms around Korra’s neck, hugging her tightly. The tears were still falling from her face when they let go but Asami was smiling; Korra did the same as she wiped them away. Korra knew, she knew it all had to have meant something.

They gently placed their lips together as Kuvira cheered once more in the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there it is: the final installment, the completed Song Based Series.  
> thank you to everyone who has read these stories, gave kudos, left comments, bookmarked, all of it. i could never give enough thanks for it all. this series was a joy to write and i'm glad to have shared it with you all.  
> i may revisit this series in the future, though right now i am more than satisfied with what i've created.  
> thank you all again and i hope you've enjoyed reading. :) x


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